Podcasts
SkoPurp Soccer Episode 117: Chicago and Gotham Rewinds, Angel City Preview, and More
The Pride pick up four of a possible six points on a long road trip and unbeaten Angel City visits on Friday.
It was a long, difficult road trip, but the Orlando Pride return to the City Beautiful with four out of a possible six points after a dominant win over the Chicago Stars and a scoreless draw against defending champion Gotham FC. The Pride have played well this season but started slowly in front of goal. But now the team has put together three consecutive results, and with a little better final product, this is a team that can cook.
We look back at the excellent performance at Chicago, as Jacquie Ovalle twinkled among the Stars, Barbra Banda kept burning bright, and Hannah Anderson went supernova on her old team. (Have I exhausted the star puns yet? I admit to nothing.) We look back at our score predictions and select our Player of the Match.
We didn’t have any goals to break down from the Gotham match, but we discussed the difficulty of staying on the road for a second game, the physicality of how Gotham FC defends Banda, and the joy of keeping a second straight clean sheet. Plus, a look back at our predictions (correct result, incorrect score) and our Player of the Match vote is split.
Our mailbagbox had questions about unused substitutions, Julie Doyle’s hair, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.
Finally, we looked ahead to Friday’s visit from Angel City, including former Pride favorite Emily Sams, who turned heel this off-season and shuffled off to Southern California. She might get a warm reception from the crowd, but hopefully the Pride attacking players will be less forgiving. We look at the series history, the teams’ relative places in the table, and some of the visitors’ key players. We also provide our key matchups and try to predict the final score.
If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.
Here’s how Episode 117 went down:
0:15 – Two game recaps, as the Pride had a busy week on tour.
14:31 – Mailbagbox says its time for Doyle to re-adopt the buns.
26:45 – The tale of the tape as Angel City searches for its first loss of the NWSL season. Will it happen in Orlando? Series history suggests not.
Podcasts
SkoPurp Soccer Episode 120: Louisville Rewind, Spirit Preview, and More
The Pride couldn’t get out of their own way early in both halves and it was costly in a road loss in Kentucky. The Spirit are up next.
The Orlando Pride must really hate Kentucky. The club has never won there and a lot of weird things seem to happen. For example, on Friday, the Pride went to Louisville, dominated at least 80% of the game, fired 27 shots toward Racing’s goal, and still left town with a 3-2 loss. It was a wasteful performance spent mostly shooting either right at the goalkeeper or off the target entirely, but at least Barbra Banda scored a brace to give fans a couple of moments of magic.
We break down Orlando putting the ‘L’ in Louisville, due largely to a terrible start to the second half, look back at our score predictions to see if we came close, and made our unanimous selections for Player of the Match.
Our mailbagbox asked about the Pride’s attackers, Orlando’s best and worst matchups around the league, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.
After the mailbagbox, we look ahead to the Washington Spirit’s visit to Inter&Co Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Trinity Rodman is the big name, but the Spirit have a lot of quality in the squad, and the Pride will have to be much better prepared and locked in for 90 minutes than they were against Racing Louisville. We look back at the series history, provide our key matchups, and make our predictions for the final score.
If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.
Here’s how Episode 120 went down:
0:15 – We open the show with our breakdown of the Pride’s latest loss in Louisville.
10:55 – The mailbagbox beckons from all corners of the internet.
24:52 – The Pride are set to host the Washington Spirit, so bouncing back is of utmost importance.
Podcasts
PawedCast Episode 530: D.C. Rewind, Revs and Miami Previews, OCB-Chicago, and More
The Lions lose on the road again and now have two more away games looming.
The good times from the win over Charlotte didn’t last long, as just three days later the Lions started and finished poorly on the road at D.C. United. The part that was good was nice, but everything else, especially the late collapse, was subpar. We look back at Orlando City’s latest road loss in a season full of them already. In fact, the Lions have already lost the same number of road matches in 2026 as they did all of last year, when they went 6-4-7 away from home.
We review our score predictions from last week, discuss the goals that counted and the one that didn’t, and make our selections for Man of the Match.
Our mailbagbox wanted to know how much ground Orlando City could reasonably make up on the playoff places after Antoine Griezmann’s arrival. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.
After the mailbagbox, we looked back at OCB’s wild match at Chicago Fire FC II Sunday afternoon. This time it was the Young Lions who fell behind two goals before rallying to tie the game, but OCB continued its trend of shootout wins to grab the extra point. There are still no wins under Edward Wilding, but at least the matches are just as crazy as ever.
Finally, we looked ahead to both of Orlando City’s road games this week. The Lions will visit a good New England team Wednesday night in U.S. Open Cup play before heading south to play an even better Inter Miami squad on Saturday. The team’s fortunes so far wouldn’t suggest a positive result in either place for the Lions, but you never know.
We give our key matchups and score predictions for the league game, because you never know how much rotation a team will use in the USOC.
Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.
If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.
Here’s how No. 530 went down:
0:15 – The Lions lost again and we’re stuck talking about how this one happened.
21:45 – Our mailbagbox is small but mighty and we discuss OCB, the club’s only team to snag any points over the weekend.
33:19 – Two massive road games await this week, and we’re not super confident the Lions will get a win in either, but we’ll keep watching because that’s what you do.
Podcasts
PawedCast Episode 529: Charlotte Rewind, D.C. Preview, and More
The Lions take out weeks of frustration on Charlotte FC and will try to make it two in a row at D.C. United.
Orlando City played shockingly like the Lions of the last six years on Wednesday night in a 4-1 home win over Charlotte FC. We didn’t anticipate having such a long show this week, but we’re not used to talking about multi-goal wins, and it turns out it’s a lot more enjoyable to do that than to discuss five- and six-goal losses. Injuries, illnesses, and Charlotte FC combined couldn’t slow down the Lions for at least one night.
We break down Orlando’s best (by far) match of the season; discuss the key moments, players, and the postgame press conference; check back on our score predictions; and make our selections for Man of the Match.
In our mailbagbox segment, our listeners wanted to know about Ignacio Gomez’s availability after playing twice on a short-term deal, stadium names (again), OCB players to watch out for with the first team, and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.
After the mailbagbox, we looked ahead to OCB’s match at Chicago Fire FC II on Sunday afternoon. The teams are evenly matched in the standings, but can the Young Lions finally give their new head coach his first win?
Finally, we looked forward to Saturday’s road game against D.C. United. The Lions have yet to win on the road or put together back-to-back victories this season, and with healthy bodies scarce, it’s hard to imagine the team not wearing down on short rest with travel involved unless some guys return from injury. However, that could happen! Maybe!
We look at the series history between the Lions and the Black & Red, check out their relative status in the table, discuss the danger of Tai Baribo, provide our key matchups, and make our final score predictions. We will hopefully be just as wrong on Saturday as we were on Wednesday.
Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.
If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.
Here’s how No. 529 went down:
0:15 – The Lions not only won, but won big! That’s new (at least in 2026). We discuss.
31:03 – Our mailbagbox is even sweeter after a win. We’d forgotten about that.
48:10 – OCB visits Chicago II and Orlando City heads to the nation’s capital.
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